Validation Conference Conclusions

Head coordinator of NVL Antra Carlsen rounded up the conference with the last plenary presentation. – We can conclude this conference with a few key learning points, she claimed.

Group discussions on the 2nd day of the conference were inspired by totally 12 good practice cases presenting validation experience in Europe. - All groups engaged in discussions on success factors and in depth analyzed the pre-conditions necessary for a high quality validation process, Antra Carlsen explains.

Success factors

– Many success factors have been identified, but three of them stand out and have been mentioned most frequently:
1) Stakeholder demand / explicit need from the involved parts
2) Clarity, transparency of the validation process – this helps to show relevance
3) Mentoring, guidance and follow-up.

The results from the two sessions on March 6 inspired the final discussion on the future steps. Questions, like How to make validation more visible? and Who should do it? created a lively discussion in the groups on March 7. Also the systematic approach as well as broad and inclusive approach to validation was discussed a lot.

Need for continuous awareness raising

The final expert panel received a lot of questions from the groups. The important role of the coming European and international guidelines was emphasized, and the need for continuous information was pointed out.

The participants challenged the panel with a question on cooperation: “How can all the stakeholders be motivated to support a bottom up and top down approach at the same time, and in a cooperative way?” Experts from UNESCO, EU, and representatives from the fields of research, education and working life engaged in the discussion. – We need to increase the flexibility of the existing systems, the experts agreed. They also emphasized that the relation between education, working life and recognition of prior learning is evident. - Validation should be seen as a tool for career development as well as personal development, they claimed.

Here you can find the summary from the final workshop session on the next steps and future issues for ensuring high quality in validation: |PDF| and the questions addressed to the final expert panel: |PDF|.